Brief summary of the book «The city and the dogs» by Mario Vargas Llosa

Mario Vargas Llosa, a Peruvian writer and a great figure in Spanish-American narrative for his great investigation of narrative techniques and their complexity in novel worlds, published his work "The city of dogs" in 1962. This was the author's first work and also the first to lead the movement called boom. 

En "The city and the Dogs", expresses through the denunciation of machismo and violence in a military school in Lima, a criticism of Peruvian society.

For those of you who do not know what is referred to by the call tree of literature, corresponds to the great success of the Latin American novel which began in the early Sixties decade approximately. In this boom, certain works appeared that proposed the break with the traditional forms of the story, and that at the same time, made the names of their authors world famous. Among them are novelists of the stature of G. García Márquez, Carlos Fuentes and Mario Vargas Llosa among many others. They use a broader and much more international language than there was until then.

"The city and the dogs", what is it about?

"The city and the Dogs", published in 1962, narrates the rampant brutality exerted on a group of young students from a military school in Lima. Through various narrative resources, quite innovative for that time, Vargas Llosa exposes the consequences of a misunderstood military education and also denounces the corruption of that world and its ever-present violence.

Next, we are going to summarize very briefly (if you want to read it, it is better that you leave the reading of this article here), some of the parts that make it up.

The christening of a dog

The military college is an institution accessed by various boys to study the last three years of high school. In it, students are subjected to a violent and sordid environment. The 4th graders perform a cruel rite of passage for new entrants that year. In response to this, some young people form the so-called "Circle", a group that decides to take revenge on the fourth graders. It is led by the Jaguar, a violent boy who plans harsh attacks against his opponents and who turns out to be the leader of the rest of the boys whom he also incites violence. Ricardo Arana, the only one who remains on the sidelines, totally involuntarily pushes him and for this he receives a brutal beating. From this moment he is continuously attacked and insulted by the rest of the cadets.

Incidents at school

The theft of the chemistry test and the death of the cadet

Cava, one of the school's students, steals a chemistry test following Jaguar's instructions. The authorities find out about the crime although they are not able to identify the culprit. This is why they decide to retaliate against all young people and lock them up and keep them in school indefinitely. After several weeks of confinement, the character known as Slave denounces Cava before the officers and he is expelled. However, during some maneuvers an unfortunate event occurs ... A cadet receives a bullet from a strange source and dies ...

Alberto's testimony and the involvement of the Jaguar

Alberto, nicknamed the Poet, had an appreciation for the Slave (Ricardo Arana). For this reason, he denounces the irregularities of his schoolmates and accuses the Jaguar to Lieutenant Gamboa. He suspects that he has been Arana's murderer, but he does not have sufficient evidence. The lieutenant's intervention will be of no use; his superiors refuse to investigate to avoid scandals that damage the image of the institution. They threaten Alberto to achieve his silence and order the transfer of the lieutenant. The cadets, who are punished for the information provided by the Poet, mistakenly believe that the Jaguar gave them away in a moment of resentment. He then receives the scorn and humiliation of his companions and feels lonely for the first time.

Life after school

The Jaguar, disappointed by the attitude of the rest of the cadets, confesses to Gamboa that it was he who committed the crime. He is repentant, willing to surrender, and prepared to face the consequences. But Gamboa knows that no one at the school is interested in hearing his confession. It urges you to learn from your mistake and make amends for your life. The Jaguar eventually integrates into society and marries.

Related article:
Books you have to read before you die, according to Vargas Llosa

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  1.   Maria Ana said

    Without a doubt it is a beautiful literature. I intend to acquire the book, because I fell in love with the subject

  2.   Wise said

    Please who is the one who wrote this that is using machismo as a synonym for violence, what misuse and abuse of this word currently, what nonsense in these times 2018, you have to use violence, which has no gender and machismo that is not about of all the violence and feminist ideological nonsense.

  3.   PASHI said

    Thank you, it served me soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ... I have to put this summary really ...

  4.   ernesto said

    hello friends internet users, greetings and kisses wapos

  5.   Diego from Dora said

    i went to guzmen y gomez and got a three dollar burrito but the lady didnt speak english so i said pls give me the damn taco bitch and then she proceedes to become a prostitute for the mexican pornographic industry. shortly after i called her and she gave me the suk suk, with a free sauce included. she then took it in the ass before ejaculating on a tortilla. she then got deported back to kenya, i mean venezuela where her grandmother awaited her with a arepa de crap. the arepa was filled with male spunk and female feces, it was quite the scrumptious and ended up in my tia marias cooking book where it was suggested for mario testino to cook on live tv, where he nutted on the book, and the book no longer opened because of the spunk. he then went to the market to get products for his chille con carne and he accidentally bought the meat of a gay cow. which had been injected with chlamyedia. Diego then said to mario, im sorry buddy but it looks like your gay, so we will anally remove the gayness from you by givng you some of my grandparents tamales which have been cooked with love and affectionitism.

  6.   Kamila avila said

    I like this work in very cute I read it 3 times

  7.   NICOLLE GONZALES RAMOS said

    Jaguar after all ends up learning from his mistakes and amending his life, becoming aware of everything he did and for getting married.